As one of the leading car manufacturers in Japan, Mazda has a built a reputation for producing outstanding and reliable motor vehicles. The name Mazda is allegedly taken from the anglicised version of its founder’s name – Jujiro Matsuda. However, when Mazda began life in 1920 it was known as the Tokyo Cork Kogyo Co. Ltd, a manufacturer of machine tools. The Mazda name was first adopted on the company’s first car – the Mazda-Go in 1931. Today, Mazda is partially owned by the Ford Motor Company which took a 33.4% controlling interest in the company in March, 1999. There has been a cross-promotion of certain Ford and Mazda models ever since.